High tech hits the showers: 5 ways to go deluxe in the bathroom

Slava Lazebnikov can set the water temperature of his shower from the living room, program a shower playlist while having dinner and lift the toilet lid while lying in bed.

After 15 years in his Rockville, Md., home, Lazebnikov said the bathrooms were outdated and needed something, well, a little splashy.

Now showering in the upstairs bathroom is a digital spa experience. “It’s really like in a car wash,” he said.

In the rooms where families consume their media, technology’s long been commonplace. And devices now allow homeowners to program their music and TV. Kitchens have refrigerators that tell them when they’re low on milk.

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But … the bathroom?

A fall 2013 survey of 7,600 homeowners by Houzz — an online community focused on remodeling and design — found that 60 percent of people are renovating bathrooms. Multiple shower heads, including those that simulate rain, are particularly popular, the survey said.

Lazebnikov and his wife, Margarita, live in a modest townhouse. But Lazebnikov, a software systems manager, “likes all sorts of gadgets that can be adjusted for the heck of it,” he said — and can install them himself.

1 Beyond-spa showers

A digital valve with five control panels is connected to both their smartphones and enables them to personalize every aspect of the shower. The devices can be pricey: The Kohler DTV system with rain head, four body sprays, fixed head and hand shower typically retails for $4,500. Add another $12,000 for the media package.

“Water comes at you from all sides and above,” said Lazebnikov, pointing to various ceiling and wall water tiles from which the water flow and pressure can be regulated. You can create a drizzle, thunderstorm, waterfall, fountain or body spray.

Lazebnikov can set a rhythmic pattern of alternating water temperature. He can add steam “to surround me in warmth.”

“If you’re in the kitchen cooking, you can hit your iPad app to turn on the steam so that it starts generating,” said Brittany Pomeroy, of Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery in Rockville, Md. “Then you can walk straight into the shower. If you’re on a run and have five minutes left, you can do the same thing.”

Ceiling lights can be programmed to alter mood. Blue and violet are considered calming, yellow and red energizing.

And music pours from a speaker that fits into the shower head. Kohler also sells Moxie, a $199 system with a shower head and wireless speaker that snaps in to play and pops out for recharging. It is wirelessly connected to Bluetooth-enabled devices.

“Today, showers are so advanced they (can carry) the price of an expensive German car,” said David Goldberg, owner of Union Hardware in Bethesda, Md.

“They definitely have a place in the market, ” she said. But often, her clients “don’t quite trust that the technology won’t go out, and a shower is just something they’re not willing to go without.”

2 A pampered potty

The Lazebnikov’s Japanese-manufactured Numi toilet, which retails for about $6,600, is digitally controlled by a hand-held panel the size and shape of a BlackBerry. Among its options: A blue floor-light “man sensor” to raise and lower the seat by foot; a heated seat; music; a lighted bowl that acts as a night light; and a built-in deodorizing system.

In the first-floor powder room, Lazebnikov installed a toilet bowl onto an orange, rust and gold wall of Jerusalem stone and onyx. “It’s a very small space, and every inch counts,” he said.

Wall-mounted toilets with dual flush buttons in the wall, which cost $700 to $1,200, are something Coloradan Hook is hooked on.

They’re “fantastic for cleaning,” she said. “Toilets are just kind of gross areas in general, and anything you can do to streamline that, it’s a good thing. (But) I don’t think a toilet needs to light up and sing me a song.”

3 Video everywhere

TVs are also being added to bathrooms. Robern makes medicine cabinets with TV screens flush in the mirror. The devices cost $3,900, plus $260 for speakers.

Bathtubs are no longer standard. Houzz says nearly half the people remodeling bathrooms are leaving tubs out, and those who include them often add spa-like features that can be digitally programmed.

4 Shaken and stirred

Kohler Vibracoustic tubs offer a completely different spa experience with music from hidden speakers, vibrations and chromotherapy lights inserted in the tub. The units cost about $2,800 to more than $8,000 — uninstalled.

“For some people, that’s fabulous. You choose the color in which you want to bathe and use the music to pump you up for a night on the town or quiet you down for sleep,” designer Pomeroy said.

5 With a wave

Touchless faucets, which cost $300 to $700, are moving from commercial outlets and highway rest stops to home bathrooms. “Embedded with sensor technology, they use less energy and conserve water, which is important because it’s one of the resources we’re depleting,” Santalla said.